Only "select games" will support voice chat on Wii U, Nintendo has confirmed.

They include Assassin's Creed 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Mass Effect 3, the platform holder told Kotaku. There will be no official Wii U headset, so users wanting to chat online will need to pick up an officially licensed Turtle Beach or Mad Catz one which can then be plugged into the GamePad (they're all wired at the moment, too). The built-in GamePad microphone and speaker won't support voice chat.

Meanwhile the Xbox 360-like Wii U Pro Controller, which can be used to play Black Ops 2, doesn't even feature a port to connect a headset, meaning you'll have to have your GamePad close to hand if you want to chat while using the Pro Controller.

In its summary, Kotaku offered the following information about Wii U voice chat:

No universal support for in-game voice chat

Game-by-game support for in-game chat

The GamePad mic will not, by default, work as an input for in-game voice chat

The Wii U will support wired headsets (and possibly mic-enabled headphones), but only through the Wii U GamePad

Meanwhile the Xbox 360-like Wii U Pro Controller, which can be used to play Black Ops 2, doesn't even feature a port to connect a headset, meaning you'll have to have your GamePad close to hand if you want to chat while using the Pro Controller.

What.

I'm going to assume the console itself supports usb/bluetooth headsets like the PS3 then. If not...wow

Pretty much what I expected. Nintendo releasing stuff that's about a generation behind the competition and expecting people to buy it. No thank you. Glad I didn't buy the Wii and really glad I won't be buying this thing.

I can't see this being any different to the Wii, except it won't sell as much.

Parents will buy it, it'll get played from Xmas day up until early January and then never get touched again.

However, I can't see all the casuals that bought the Wii getting this as well. My sister bought the Wii and I really can't see her buying this. The Wii has sat in a cupboard for 4 years now, what will make this different?